‘Hold judicial inquiry into Khammam chilli incident’

HYDERABAD: All India Congress Committee former secretary and deputy leader in the state Legislative Council, Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, on Monday demanded a judicial inquiry into the Khammam market yard incident. He alleged that traders, commission agents and brokers have formed a syndicate and are denying the farmers break-even price for their agriculture produce.
Sudhakar Reddy demanded that the TRS government withdraw the cases against farmers and release them unconditionally.“I will be moving a privilege motion as I was arrested when Legislative Council was in vogue,” he said.
He dared chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to order a comprehensive judicial probe into the chilli farmers protest and the trade in Khammam mirchi yard, stating that the investigation will expose the bluff of the ruling TRS that opposition parties were behind the incident.
Lashing out at TRS ministers, particularly deputy chief minister Kadiam Srihari, for accusing Congress of being a party of Dalarulu (brokers), Sudhakar advised him to first check the exploitation of farmers by unlicenced and licenced traders and commission agents who have ganged up with brokers at market yards to loot farmers.
He also alleged that it was TRS which had dalarulu in the form of various leaders from other parties joining TRS for gains offered by the ruling party.
Despite several representations submitted to the government to take stock of the chilli situation, the TRS has failed to respond, he alleged. He advised Kadiam Srihari to focus on checking “middlemen” in the education sector rather than accusing Congress.